Published: Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at 6:45 p.m.

After seeing snow since early Wednesday morning, the end could be in sight for Henderson County by this afternoon, but not before a few more flurries in the morning.

“There's a very good chance that people could wake up in Henderson County on Thursday and see more snow falling,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan McAvoy.

However, he said any morning snowfall will depend on how much precipitation a band of heavy snow brought to the region last night.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, McAvoy said the evening and nighttime accumulations could bring an additional 6 to 8 inches of new snow to the county.

According to the latest forecasts Thursday morning, periods of snow will continue through daybreak and will taper off by midday. By Thursday afternoon, Henderson County could see an additional snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches, while the state's northern foothills could see an additional 2 to 4 inches.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the region until 6 p.m. Thursday.

Because of concerns about hazardous weather conditions, the Red Cross opened a shelter in Polk County at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

"We will be open through whatever period of time we are needed, even if it means we stay open through the weekend. If we are needed, we will stay open,” Red Cross volunteer Kerry Smithwick said. The shelter is located at 231 Ward St. in Columbus.

In Henderson County, two emergency shelters stayed on standby.

Henderson County Emergency Services Director Rocky Hyder said there was no need as of late Wednesday afternoon to open the locations at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville and in the Daniel Boone Building at the WNC Ag Center in Fletcher. However, he said the shelters are ready to open at a moment's notice.

“If we have power outage problems, we expect they would occur sometime early Thursday or through the morning on Thursday,” Hyder said. “But we're ready to go.”

As snow began to fall Wednesday morning, city and county officials responded quickly, and closed their buildings by noon. School officials made the call Tuesday evening to cancel classes Wednesday, and schools are also closed today.

Meetings were canceled or rescheduled due to inclement weather. Hours before their offices closed, a message from Henderson County officials appeared on the county's website, alerting residents to use extreme caution as the storm made its way to the area.

"At a time like this, our public safety and emergency response capacity is stretched. We need the cooperation of everyone to 'weather this storm,'" County Manger Steve Wyatt said in a statement.

Wyatt also urged citizens to eliminate any unnecessary travel, so the N.C. Department of Transportation and local municipalities could more effectively deal with accumulating snowfall.

Judging by the number of accidents emergency personnel responded to Wednesday, Hyder said he thinks residents are heeding the warnings.

“It's been wonderful. Obviously people have paid attention to the news and stayed home, or at least those that could. We've had a low number of calls for a snow day,” he said.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Hyder said 11 automobile accidents had been reported in Henderson County since midnight, with 10 of them reported before 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“Normally, we can have that many (accidents) in an hour when snow comes and people are out and have to get home,” Hyder said.

<p>After seeing snow since early Wednesday morning, the end could be in sight for Henderson County by this afternoon, but not before a few more flurries in the morning.</p><p>“There's a very good chance that people could wake up in Henderson County on Thursday and see more snow falling,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan McAvoy.</p><p>However, he said any morning snowfall will depend on how much precipitation a band of heavy snow brought to the region last night.</p><p>At 4 p.m. Wednesday, McAvoy said the evening and nighttime accumulations could bring an additional 6 to 8 inches of new snow to the county. </p><p>According to the latest forecasts Thursday morning, periods of snow will continue through daybreak and will taper off by midday. By Thursday afternoon, Henderson County could see an additional snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches, while the state's northern foothills could see an additional 2 to 4 inches. </p><p>The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the region until 6 p.m. Thursday.</p><p>Because of concerns about hazardous weather conditions, the Red Cross opened a shelter in Polk County at 9 a.m. Wednesday. </p><p>"We will be open through whatever period of time we are needed, even if it means we stay open through the weekend. If we are needed, we will stay open,” Red Cross volunteer Kerry Smithwick said. The shelter is located at 231 Ward St. in Columbus.</p><p>In Henderson County, two emergency shelters stayed on standby.</p><p>Henderson County Emergency Services Director Rocky Hyder said there was no need as of late Wednesday afternoon to open the locations at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville and in the Daniel Boone Building at the WNC Ag Center in Fletcher. However, he said the shelters are ready to open at a moment's notice.</p><p>“We'll certainly keep our shelters on standby until the situation has calmed down. That's our approach,” Hyder said.</p><p>He said the next major concern is the potential for power outages.</p><p>“If we have power outage problems, we expect they would occur sometime early Thursday or through the morning on Thursday,” Hyder said. “But we're ready to go.”</p><p>As snow began to fall Wednesday morning, city and county officials responded quickly, and closed their buildings by noon. School officials made the call Tuesday evening to cancel classes Wednesday, and schools are also closed today.</p><p>Meetings were canceled or rescheduled due to inclement weather. Hours before their offices closed, a message from Henderson County officials appeared on the county's website, alerting residents to use extreme caution as the storm made its way to the area.</p><p>"At a time like this, our public safety and emergency response capacity is stretched. We need the cooperation of everyone to 'weather this storm,'" County Manger Steve Wyatt said in a statement.</p><p>Wyatt also urged citizens to eliminate any unnecessary travel, so the N.C. Department of Transportation and local municipalities could more effectively deal with accumulating snowfall.</p><p>Judging by the number of accidents emergency personnel responded to Wednesday, Hyder said he thinks residents are heeding the warnings.</p><p>“It's been wonderful. Obviously people have paid attention to the news and stayed home, or at least those that could. We've had a low number of calls for a snow day,” he said.</p><p>At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Hyder said 11 automobile accidents had been reported in Henderson County since midnight, with 10 of them reported before 1 p.m. Wednesday.</p><p>“Normally, we can have that many (accidents) in an hour when snow comes and people are out and have to get home,” Hyder said.</p><p>Henderson County Department of Transporation maintenance engineer Jason Willis echoed Hyder's statements.</p><p>“We haven't had a lot of issues on the interstate, thank goodness. And we have not had to respond to a lot of wrecks,” he said Wednesday afternoon.</p><p>Willis said the agency used four contract motorgraders on Wednesday, in addition to having 24 pieces of equipment on the road.</p><p>“We're trying to stay right in line with the storm, and we will continue to be here around the clock,” Willis said, noting that I-26 will be the top priority along with other primary roads.</p><p>McAvoy, the meteorologist, said county residents, officials, road crews and emergency personnel should see their troubles melt away.</p><p>“Even looking at the worst-case scenario, this system should be out of there by mid-afternoon Thursday,” he said.</p><p>The rest of the week's forecast calls for a chance of rain and snow showers and a high of 38 Friday, followed by a sunny high of 40 Saturday and a mostly sunny high of 46 Sunday. </p><p>Reach Byrd at Caitlin.byrd@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7881.</p>